Upbeat Midlands property market leads to new appointments at GVA

The Midlands office of leading commercial real estate adviser, GVA, has expanded its Lease Consultancy team with two new appointments in response to the growing industrial market in the West Midlands.

James White joins as an Associate from BNP Paribas Real Estate, bringing with him over 29 years' experience, dealing with both landlord and tenant matters for industrial, retail and office properties.

James' extensive experience includes providing advice on rent reviews and lease renewals for a number of high profile clients in the Midlands, including distribution warehouses for Sainsbury's and Co-op, on behalf of the tenant. He is currently advising a tenant on the rent review of their 65,000 ft landmark office building in Birmingham City Centre.

In addition, Chelsey Henderson has joined the team as a Surveyor from the Automotive and Roadside team at GVA, where she advised investors and occupiers across the UK on rent reviews, regears and renewals. Chelsey also continues to advise our clients for specialised Roadside lease consultancy matters.

Both will work across GVA’s broad portfolio of property clients, covering the industrial, office and retail sectors.

Chris Norcup, Lease Consultancy Director at GVA’s Midlands office, said: “The Midlands property market continues to go from strength to strength and as a result, we’ve seen an upturn in activity in the Lease Consultancy team.

“This increase in demand has come from both landlords and tenants requiring rent review, lease renewal and lease renegotiation advice and we have advised on nearly 2 million sq ft of industrial space across the West Midlands in 2016 alone.

“We recently advised occupiers on a 130 acre industrial site and more unusually a former Cold War nuclear weapons storage bunker in Warwickshire, adding to our extensive client portfolio outside of the city centre.

“As such, this is the perfect time to expand the team and, with James and Chelsey now in place, we have a strong team of experts dedicated to providing the best possible solutions for our clients.”